37th film in the Ultraman franchise and the second reboot of a tokusatsu series to be adapted by script writer Hideaki Anno and director Shinji Higuchi after “Shin Godzilla”, “Shin Ultraman” proves that the team behind the two movies (including Toho and Cine Bazar) have found the perfect recipe (and the money) for these relaunches.
Shin Ultraman is screening at Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival
In a style very similar to “Shin Godzilla”, the movie jumps right into the action, as a number of giant creatures, classified as “S-Class Species” have appeared throughout Japan, with the government establishing the S-Class Species Suppression Protocol to eliminate further threats. Shortly thereafter, the SSSP addresses Neronga's attack, when a silver extraterrestrial giant dubbed “Ultraman” appears to defeat the monster and save humanity. However, he inadvertently kills SSSP member Shinji Kaminaga during his battle with the monster. He subsequently takes Shinji's appearance and place, leaving the real Shinji's body in the forest where he died. Ultraman in the form of Shinji then bonds a friendship with SSSP analyst Hiroko Asami, while constantly asking questions about the overall mentality of humanity. .
Shortly after, another alien entity, Zarab, appears, claiming the government has signed a peace contract with him, but the SSSP discovers that he is seeking to conquer the Earth. In a series of extreme events, Zarab frames Ultraman who is perceived as an enemy by Earth forces, while Hiroko also becomes a giant. Alien enemies keep appearing, and eventually even Ultraman finds himself in a situation he cannot handle.
Again as in “Shin Godzilla”, the most obvious traits of the movie are two: The first one is the frantic, sttripped from any kind of nonsense editing by Youhei Kurihara and Hideaki Anno, which results in a truly thundering pace that actually allows for the plethora of episodes that take place in the 112 minutes of the movie to unfold in their full glory. Furthermore, the news piece approach in the unfolding of the events works quite well here, ideally progressing the story, with Keizo Suzuki's cinematography capturing the different settings the humans inhabit, with an unexpected but also rather pleasant realism. The second is the rather big budget that has allowed for all the gigantic creatures to appear quite impressive, either on the Earth or eventually into space. Their movement, the disaster that accompanies their every appearance, and even more outstandingly, their fights, are a true wonder to look at, in an SFX style that also shows how the whole tokusatsu/kaiju category has evolved during the last years, with the winks at the “Attack on Titan” being quite obvious occasionally. At the same time, “Shin Ultraman” stays true to the original franchise, with the main character's signature movements being the same, as much as his overall appearance, in an element that also induces the title with a very pleasant retro element.
At the same time, the contemporary elements are also quite evident here. The presence of a woman tokusatsu for example, and the whole concept of Asami for that matter, is a rather pleasant addition, even if a sensualization element is not missing, as the continuous focus on her impressive legs highlights. The “punches” towards US and China are also here, although in a rather subtle approach, while the comments on politicians, who continue to play the “avoid responsibility” games even in the face of disaster, follow a different, quite pointed path. The concept of propaganda and how the news can manipulate public opinion is also present, with Zarab being the main medium of this aspect. The way Ultraman turns from a hero to public enemy is indicative, in one of the most interesting elements of the narrative. Lastly, the subtle, brief, occasionally quite ironic humor, cements an overall excellent narrative approach.
The acting, and essentially the casting, is also on a very high level. Takumi Saitoh is excellent as the human Ultraman, depicting the fact that he is an alien through a rather eccentric demeanor that is also quite funny to watch. Masami Nagasawa is also great as the bossy, smarter than everyone Asami, with the same applying to Hidetoshi Nishijima as the voice of reason and seriousness Kimio Tamura.
“Shin Ultraman” is a great sci-fi film, elaborate in all of its aspects, and one of those movies that definitely deserves to be watched on the big screen.
